July 2006 - The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that it is using renewable energy to offset all of the energy used by its buildings as well as the energy used by NREL vehicles, employee commuting, air travel and other 'life cycle' energy consumption. On-site renewable energy systems, such as wind and solar electric systems, are used to meet a portion of the laboratory's electricity needs, with these systems generating about 138,000 kWh annually. To offset the rest of its energy needs, NREL is purchasing 30 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the Western Area Power Administration. The laboratory has cut overall greenhouse gas emissions more than 10% since 2000, exceeding its five-year goal as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Leaders Partnership.